Recent N.J. law bans those convicted of certain crimes from serving on school boards

Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerForty-three years after a heroin conviction that led to Rasheed Abdul-Haqq's re-birth, the offense is the reason he may lose his board seat.

PLAINFIELD — It was 1968 when Bradford Reed was arrested in Plainfield with a small bag of heroin that landed him in a state reformatory.

By his own account, he’d been a user and a low-level drug dealer — a 20-something Army veteran caught up in the lawless, post-riot landscape of the small New Jersey city.

The eight months he spent in the reformatory changed him, he says. When he returned to Plainfield, he became a part of the city’s Muslim culture, later taking the name Rasheed Abdul-Haqq. He became a community activist, county corrections officer, business owner and eventually a member of the local board of education. For the most part, Abdul-Haqq has kept his record clean since 1970. He was, however, convicted in 1981 for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct — the end result, he says, of a traffic stop.

But now, 40 years after his reformatory stay, his drug conviction — the very catalyst for his transformation — has become the reason he is going to lose his school board seat.

A law Gov. Chris Christie signed in May bans service on local and charter school boards by those convicted of certain crimes — first- and second-degree drug possessions included. Background checks for current board members are to begin in coming days, state education officials said Friday, a day after releasing guidelines for the procedures.

The case of 68-year-old Abdul-Haqq is drawing attention to this new law. Some, including those who supported the legislation, say it may go too far, having the unintended consequence of forcing out those whose criminal pasts may have little to do with their present.

"Something should have been written into this law to really protect those that have served their time. They lived through this and have kept their lives clean," said Peter Briggs, president of the NAACP’s Plainfield chapter. "This law is going back and is going to hit him up for something that happened over 40 years ago. That’s troubling to me."

Abdul-Haqq, who has two years left in his second term on the school board, said he would not have run again even if the law was not passed. But on principle alone, he refuses to step down and has contacted the American Civil Liberties Union.

"I have no intention of resigning. They’ll have to remove me," said Abdul-Haqq, who believes everyone who voted for him is aware of his drug conviction, an issue in his first election. "I went through the legal process to get elected by the people of Plainfield."

In Atlantic City, school board member George Crouch faces the same fate. The 42-year-old pleaded guilty to manufacture and distribution of narcotics in 1992 and was sentenced to five years in prison, according to court records. He also pleaded guilty in 1988 to a weapons possession charge and was sentenced to 18 months.

Questioning a law with unintended consequences

As the removal process gets under way, some are raising questions about the law’s lack of leeway.

The state school boards association, which had supported the legislation with some changes, said the Legislature may need to adjust the law. The group was also a prime backer of the requirements for criminal history checks that were put in place for school employees in the 1980s.

"With any newly enacted statute, there is the possibility of unintended consequences — for example, if an individual is disqualified from service due to a conviction from the distant past that may not be relevant to the current situation," said Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the association. "The Legislature should be made aware of those situations so it could determine if there is a need to amend the statute."

The law would allow school board service by those who have had their convictions expunged. But others question whether state expungement rules are the real issue.

Abdul-Haqq does not qualify for that because he has more than two disorderly persons offenses on his record, in addition to the heroin conviction. He was convicted of at least four non-indictable offenses — damage to property in 1965, public order crimes in 1967 and resisting arrest and disorderly conduct in 1981, according to law enforcement records.

He tried to get an expungement in 2001, receiving letters of support from numerous public officials — from then Plainfield Mayor Albert McWilliams to the city’s police director — but was denied.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) was upset to learn the new law will force Abdul-Haqq out. He said he hasn’t developed a thorough position yet but believes the state must consider changing its expungement rules.

"I think this is a bigger issue than just this case, because disorderly persons can be for anything, and passage of time should be considered," Lesniak said. "We want to give people the opportunity to reshape their lives, and if we put road blocks in the way, that’s not good public policy."

Abdul-Haqq accuses one of the law’s primary sponsors, Assemblyman Jerry Green (D-Union), of creating the regulation as a political move to force him out. Green denies that and says he pushed for the law to give school board members the same requirements as the people they employ, including a janitor who lost his job for a lesser drug crime.

"The law says he cannot work for the board of education if he had a record and he cannot get it expunged. So, why should a school board member be any different? This is just a fair process for everybody."